Purposeful Distance
by Uozumi
Summary: There was always that assumption about them that had been floating around for a year, maybe more. It wasn't true until last night. ShikamaruTemari. Set right before Naruto's reappearance after the time warp. Spoilers for chapter 245ish of the manga.


**Title** _Purposeful Distance_  
**Author** Uozumi  
**Genre** General  
**Rating** PG-13  
**Disclaimer** I do not own nor claim to own this. The characters, ect...contained within are not my property. This is an act of fandom and I do not make a profit from this endeavor. I also do not own the song contained within, it is property of its respective owner(s).  
**Summary** There was always that assumption about them that had been floating around for a year, maybe more. It wasn't true until last night. Shikamaru/Temari. Set right before Naruto's reappearance after the time warp. Spoilers for chapter 245-ish of the manga.  
**WARNINGS** Herein **SPOILERS** for chapter 246 (or is it 245…?) of the manga! Basically, if you haven't read up into the 240's be prepared to be **SPOILED**.   
**Notes** Based on an icon I saw on LJ. Took me long enough to write it . I've been meaning to write this since like August, and I guess that since I can't sleep, here we go.

**_Purposeful Distance_**

People are not stupid. They've been watching this for three years now – some for four years – and they know what is happening. His friends give him space when ninja from Suna come. No one says a word, but whenever he meets his best friend's eyes, he knows the other boy knows everything. Some people, he knows, assume too much. Or, at least, assume what happened last night has been going on a long while now. He tightens his ponytail and sighs inwardly. Even the Hokage gives him that look, the same look the village women give him, especially when that girl's in town.

She woke up first, although he doesn't know if she had been up a long time before she woke him. She's doing her hair up, looking pointedly into the mirror. He knows she's not avoiding him, that's just not how she does things. He looks down at his examiner shirt before pulling it over his head and fishnet undershirt. Tucking it into his pants, he pauses and then grabs his Chûnin vest off the floor.

He isn't stupid. He knows why he's an examiner for the Chûnin exams and hasn't been out of Konoha on a mission for almost two years. He shakes the vest out and tries to smooth out the wrinkles. He shouldn't have left it crumpled on the floor, not that he was thinking about the vest at the time. Muttering quietly about how ironing is such a pain, he holds the vest up and appraises it. It looks presentable and it's in better shape than it normally is.

She stands up from where she was sitting at the mirror and walks over to the bed, pulling her weapon onto her lap as she inspects it. He knows it's one of her morning rituals, and he watches for a moment before looking away, he's seen it several times before. He zips up his vest and then begins looking for the strap he uses to tie his simple weapons to his thigh. He knows she's watching him now and soon her voice seems to fill the small room. "It's over there, by the stool."

He nods and picks it up; checking to make sure that everything is still in the carrying pouch. They're in the room she's staying in while she's in Konoha for the exam. This isn't the first time they've been in this room, or woken up in it. It smells this time though, but he tries to put it out of is mind. He can't start thinking about all the implications of what they did, at least, not right now. He can save it for when he's looking up at the clouds, that's when he always does his hardest thinking.

He finishes fastening the strap to his thigh and makes sure it's not too loose or too tight. Straightening, he looks over at the bed where she's finishing checking her weapon. Walking over, he sits beside her and watches as she makes the last check.

"Where are we getting breakfast?" she asks in the same quiet tone that somehow fills the room.

"I don't know," he murmurs quietly, his voice not carrying very far from them.

Standing, she slips her arms through the straps of her weapon and states, "We can get out and go from there." She adjusts the straps and looks around as though thinking about saying something more but deciding against it.

They leave the room and merge into the already crowded streets of Konoha, mostly filled with mothers buying groceries and excited children that buzz about the events that start later that day. The pair walks together but apart, not saying anything as they pass by the typical gossipy women in the market district. They hear the words "there they are again," "cute," and some other things that they simply ignore as they walk down the street, a pointed distance between them.

**The End**


End file.
